This is the 27th sthalam on the northern side of river Cauvery. Thiruganasambandar has sung hymns in praise of lord of this temple. The Vinayagar in this holy place graces us in the name ‘Siddhi Vinayagar’. As in Sirkazhi, in this temple also there are 3 shrines for God Shiva viz., Kutram Porutta Natheswarar, Uma Maheswarar and Sattanathar. Hence this sthalam is also a Madakkovil and is referred to as "Melaikkazhi". The shrine for Kutram Porutta Natheswarar is situated in the ground level and the second and third shrines are situated at an elevated site as found in Sirkazhi. This Shivathalam is also known as Adhityapuram because Sun God Sooriyan is said to have worshiped God Shiva here. Saint Vasishtar is also believed to have worshiped the God Shiva here on the advice of God Brahma.

This temple has 4 prakarams and the stucco images on the vimanams adorning the sanctum are of great beauty. The Rajagopuram here is not in allignment with the sanctum here.

According to the legend, Indiran, the king of Devas, is said to have attacked Shiva with his Vajrayutham and Shiva is said to have forgiven him for his hasty act of aggression. Hence Lord Shiva is known here as Aparadha Kshameswarar in sanskrit and is referred as Kutramporutha Nathar in Tamil.

On the Thirukkaarthigai and Thiruvaathirai days, the Lord goes on procession. All festivals related to Lord Siva are celebrated in a grand manner.

History / Legend:

King Vichitraangan with his wife Suseelai came to this place and worshipped to beget issues. He was blessed with a child and the happy King erected this beautiful temple – so says history. Since Sun God worshiped in this place, this place came to be known as ‘Thalaignaayiru’. Lord Brahma informed the sage Vasishta that all the good deeds performed in this holy place would multiply tenfold. The legend states that sage Vasishta installed a Lingam here, worshiped it and blessed with highest wisdom. 72 maharishis have attained ‘mukthi’ or liberation after worshiping the deity here. Those who come and worship here will not be in the mother’s womb in the next janma is the belief. That is, they will not be born again. The traditional belief is that they will reach the feet of Lord Siva. Hence, this holy place is called ‘Karuppariyalur’.

Relief of Hanuman’s dosham or curse: Lord Rama, in order to be relieved off the dosham of killing Ravana during the war, wanted perform Siva pooja. He asked Hanuman to bring a Sivalingam in a few hours time. Hanuman accepted the command and went towards the northern side. Since he did not return within the stipulated time, Lord Rama created a Lingam in the sand, installed it and worshipped. Where Lord Rama performed pooja to Lord Siva became ‘Rameswaram’. Hanuman was sad to know that the Lingam was installed before he returned. And he also pulled that Lingam by binding it with his tail, but could not do so. Because of his action, Hanuman was penalized. Lord Rama advised him that if he performed tapasya to Lord Siva, he would get rid off the penalty. Accordingly, Hanuman did tapasya and Lord Siva appeared before him and said: “Hanuman! You go to Kanmapuram also called Thalaignayiru and worship. You will be relieved of this curse.” Thus the Lord graced him. Hanuman, as directed by the Lord, came to Thalaignayiru, worshipped the deity and got free of his curse. Surprised at the immense benevolence of Lord Siva, he installed a Lingam in his own name at the North-eastern part of this sacred place and began worshipping it. Now, this place is known as ‘Thirukkurakkaa’.

Meganaathan was the son of Ravana. Since he won Lord Indra in the war, he was known as ‘Indrajit’. Once, Indrajit was flying in his pushpaka vimaanam across the sky. Suddenly the flight of the vimaanam was impeded. When he looked down he understood that he was flying over Siva’s temple and so this impediment had happened to him. Indrajit was sad and he worshipped the deity of this place after taking bath in the sacred theertham. He also tried to shift this wonderful Lingam to Lankapuri. But he could not and fell unconscious in the process. Ravana came to know about this incident. He surrendered to the Lord’s feet, pleaded to Him to pardon his son and bestow blessings on him. The kind Lord did so. Hence, the deity of this sacred place is called 'Kutram Porutha Nathar'.

Those with no issues, persons whose babies die in infancy due to curse, devotees who pray for male issues or female issues worship the deity of this holy place.

Location: This temple is located at about 14 Kms from Mayiladuthurai and is situated near to another paadal petra sivasthalam Vaitheeswaran Kovil. Thalaignaayiru is on the bus route Vaitheeswaran koil and Thirupananthaal.

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